Engineering Commons^™

Combining Interval, Probabilistic, And Fuzzy Uncertainty: Foundations, Algorithms, Challenges -- An Overview, Vladik Kreinovich, David J. Berleant, Scott Ferson, Weldon A. Lodwick

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

Since the 1960s, many algorithms have been designed to deal with interval uncertainty. In the last decade, there has been a lot of progress in extending these algorithms to the case when we have a combination of interval and probabilistic uncertainty. We provide an overview of related algorithms, results, and remaining open problems.

37th Conference On Senior Engineering Design Projects, College Of Engineering And Applied Sciences

Senior Engineering Design Conference

The 37th Conference on Senior Engineering Design Projects was held on November 29, 2005 at the College of Engineering and applied Sciences on the Parkview Campus of Western Michigan University. The college sponsors the conference to showcase the work of its graduating seniors, who are required to complete a capstone project that puts into practice what they have learned. Many of the projects are sponsored by business and industry.

The information for this event was taken from the internet archive hosted by the Wayback Machine.

Energy Efficient Transportation For Florida, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Nearly 30% of energy used in Florida is consumed by our 13 million personal automobiles. Annual gasoline consumption in Florida is about 7.5 billion gallons. Florida also has more registered cars per capita than any other state in the U.S. - nearly one car for each person. The average Florida automobile is driven over 10,000 miles a year burning about 550 gallons of gasoline and costing its owner about $1,500 in fuel costs alone (not to mention payments, insurance, service, repairs, tires, tags, license etc.). Based on a comprehensive analysis, total automobile operating costs average over $850 per month.

Population Variance Under Interval Uncertainty: A New Algorithm, Evgeny Dantsin, Vladik Kreinovich, Alexander Wolper, Gang Xiang

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In statistical analysis of measurement results, it is often beneficial to compute the range [V] of the population variance V when we only know the intervals [Xi-Di,Xi+Di] of possible values of xi. In general, this problem is NP-hard; a polynomial-time algorithm is known for the case when the measurements are sufficiently accurate, i.e., when |Xi-Xj| >= (D_i+D_j)/n for all i =/= j. In this paper, we show that we can efficiently compute [V} under a weaker (and more general) condition |Xi-Xj| >= |D_i-D_j|/n.

Specifying And Checking Method Call Sequences Of Java Programs, Yoonsik Cheon, Ashaveena Perumandla

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

In a pre and postconditions-style specification, it is difficult to specify the allowed sequences of method calls, referred to as protocols. The protocols are essential properties of reusable object-oriented classes and application frameworks, and the approaches based on the pre and postconditions, such as design by contracts (DBC) and formal behavioral interface specification languages (BISL), are being accepted as a practical and effective tool for describing precise interfaces of (reusable) program modules. We propose a simple extension to the Java Modeling Language (JML), a BISL for Java, to specify protocol properties in an intuitive and concise manner. The key idea …

Optimal Choice Of Granularity In Commonsense Estimation: Why Half-Orders Of Magnitude, Jerry R. Hobbs, Vladik Kreinovich

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

It has been observed that when people make crude estimates, they feel comfortable choosing between alternatives which differ by a half-order of magnitude (e.g., were there 100, 300, or 1,000 people in the crowd), and less comfortable making a choice on a more detailed scale, with finer granules, or on a coarser scale (like 100 or 1,000). In this paper, we describe two models of choosing granularity in commonsense estimates, and we show that for both models, in the optimal granularity, the next estimate is 3-4 times larger than the previous one. Thus, these two optimization results explain the commonsense …

Role Of Higher-"Mode" Pushover Analyses In Seismic Analysis Of Buildings, Rakesh K. Goel, Anil K. Chopra

Civil and Environmental Engineering

The role of higher-“mode” pushover analyses in seismic analysis of buildings is examined in this paper. It is demonstrated that the higher-“mode” pushover curves reveal plastic hinge mechanisms that are not detected by the first-“mode” or other FEMA-356 force distributions, but these purely local mechanisms are not likely to develop during realistic ground motions in an otherwise regular building without a soft and/or weak story. Furthermore, the conditions necessary for “reversal” of a higher-“mode” pushover curve are examined. It is shown that “reversal” in a higher-“mode” pushover curve occurs after formation of a mechanism if the resultant force above the …

The Screech Owl Reasoner - Scalable Approximate Abox Reasoning With Owl, Pascal Hitzler, Denny Vrandecic

Computer Science and Engineering Faculty Publications

We present a preliminary version of the approximate OWL reasoning system SCREECH. It builds on the KAON2 system and performs OWL ABox reasoning in an approximate manner. It trades soundness of reasoning for efficiency, with resulting polynomial worst-case data complexity. It has been developed for use in time-critical applications where quick response time is more important than a full guarantee of correctness of answers. The theoretical background for the system is explained in [Hitzler and Vrandecic, 2005] and is being presented at the conference.

Heat Generation In Municipal Solid Waste Landfills, Nazli Yesiller, James Hanson, Wei-Lien Liu

Civil and Environmental Engineering

This study was conducted to investigate thermal aspects of municipal solid waste landfills as a function of operational conditions and climatic region. Spatial and temporal distributions of waste temperatures were determined at four landfills located in North America (Michigan, New Mexico, Alaska, and British Columbia). Temperatures of wastes at shallow depths (extending to 6 to 8 m depth) and near the edges of a cell (within approximately 20 m) conformed to seasonal temperature variations, whereas steady elevated temperatures (23 to 57°C) with respect to air and ground temperatures were reached at depth and at central locations. Waste temperatures decreased from …

Investigation Of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer With Nanofluids, Gilberto Moreno

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

This investigation conducts pool boiling experiments under saturated conditions (Tsat=60°C) using nanofluids as coolants. Four different nanofluids were tested including zinc oxide (ZnO)-water, aluminum oxide (Al2O3)-water, aluminum oxide (Al2O3)-water+ethylene glycol (ethylene glycol solution) and gold (Au)-water. At saturation (Tsat=60 °C), the pool boiling performance of Al2O3-water and ZnO-water nanofluids were similar. The maximum CHF enhancement as compared to predicted Zuber's [1] CHF evaluated at an equivalent saturation temperature is about 180% for Al2O3-water nanofluids and about 240% for ZnO-water nanofluids. In both cases, no degradation in the boiling heat transfer rate was observed for lower nanoparticle concentrations. The dispersion of …

The Thermal Characteristics Of Liquid-Heat-Spreader, Sang Muk Kwark

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

The present study is an experimental research of a liquid-heat-spreader (LHS) with saturated water at ~2.29 psia. A LHS, indirect liquid cooling module, was successfully fabricated using thin copper blocks and copper tubes using solder. Three types of LHS, Flat-type, L-type, and T-type, were developed for different orientations and were compared with solid metal blocks such as aluminum and copper. The Flat-type LHS, 100 (W) × 254 (L) × 3 (T) mm3, was designed for vertical orientation. It showed a remarkable thermal performance by dissipating heat flux of 119 W/cm2 with below 100? chip temperature at the typical condition. The …

A Cmos Ultra-Wideband Differential Low Noise Amplifier, Timothy Bryan Merkin

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

In this thesis, a CMOS Ultra-wideband (UWB) Low noise Amplifier (LNA) was designed and simulated. In the design, specific architecture decisions were made in consideration of ultimately including this LNA in a system-on-chip implementation of an Ultra-wideband communication system. The basic architecture of the LNA designed herein exhibits a differential amplifier core with active input and output impedance matching, minimizing the number of expensive space consuming passive inductors necessary for passive impedance matching networks. The LNA maintains a gain of 16.4dB with a ±0.25dB ripple over the band of 3.1-6.2GHz. Despite the use of an active input matching stage, the …

Cmos 5th Derivative Gaussian Impulse Generator For Uwb Application, Shin-Chih Chang

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

A complete impulse generating system was designed and simulated which generates the fifth order derivative of the Gaussian pulse intended for use in an impulse-type ultra-wideband wireless communication system. By using a continuous-time FIR impulse shaping filter, the system transforms a normal Gaussian pulse signal obtained from an existing CMOS Gaussian pulse generator into its fifth derivative. The transformation filtering was accomplished without lengthening the time duration of the original pulse or causing any noticeable ringing effects. The final output waveform closely resembles the fifth derivative of the Gaussian pulse, and also satisfies the spectral mask emission requirements specified by …

Measurement Of Interfacial Shear Mechanical Properties In Thermal Barrier Coating Systems By A Barb Pullout Method, S. Q. Guo, D. R. Mumm, Anette M. Karlsson, Y. Kagawa

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

A test technique has been developed to facilitate evaluation of the fracture characteristics of coatings and interfaces in thermal barrier coating (TBC) systems. The methodology has particular application in analyzing delamination crack growth, where crack propagation occurs under predominantly mode II loading. The technique has been demonstrated by quantitatively measuring the effective delamination fracture resistance of an electron-beam physical vapor deposition TBC.

A Simulation Tool Suite For The Modeling And Optimization Of Multiple Quantum Well Structures, Jeffery Wayne Allen

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

This thesis aims to develop a suite of computational tools for design, analysis, and simulation of semiconductor multiple quantum well structures with a user-friendly GUI. The research project focuses on the electrical and optical aspects of user defined quantum well structures, and allows the user to vary design parameters to optimize the structure for different device applications and functionality. Specifically the thesis delves into the design and analysis of different quantum well structures as they relate to band gap engineering. Key features of this computational suite include relationship to electrical field, doping profiles and optical transitions. The quantum well structures …

Optimization Of H.264 Baseline Decoder On Arm9tdmi Processor, Sandya B. Sheshadri

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

With the newly introduced features and advancements to the pre-existing features, the emerging H.264 video coding standard achieves significant improvements in coding performance over all existing standards, in a wide variety of applications. The coding-efficiency advantages of H.264, however, come at the expense of higher computational complexity. H.264 decoders can exhibit more than double the complexity of H.263 decoders. Furthermore, previous studies have shown that fractional-pixel motion-compensation interpolation and the loop filtering consume a significant amount of computational power in emerging H.264 decoders. Since these operations are part of the baseline profile of H.264, there is a need to evaluate …

In Vitro And In Vivo Two-Photon Luminescence Imaging Of Single Gold Nanorods, Haifeng Weng, Terry B. Huff, Daniel A. Zweifel, Wei He, Philip S. Low, Alexander Wei, Ji-Xin Cheng

Other Nanotechnology Publications

Gold nanorods excited at 830 nm on a far-field laser-scanning microscope produced strong two-photon luminescence (TPL) intensities, with a cos(4) dependence on the incident polarization. The TPL excitation spectrum can be superimposed onto the longitudinal plasmon band, indicating a plasmon-enhanced two-photon absorption cross section. The TPL signal from a single nanorod is 58 times that of the two-photon fluorescence signal from a single rhodamine molecule. The application of gold nanorods as TPL imaging agents is demonstrated by in vivo imaging of single nanorods flowing in mouse ear blood vessels.

Region Of Interest (Roi) Based Rate Control For H.263 Compatible Video Conferecing, Lin Tong

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

This dissertation presents a region of interest (ROI) based H.263 [10] [13] compatible video codec, which integrates the idea of object-based coding from MPEG-4 Visual [9] [15] into the traditional block-based H.263 codec. A face detection and tracking scheme with very low complexity is proposed to segment human face region from video conferencing sequences in real-time. For intra frames, the proposed detection method is a hybrid skin color and mosaic-rule based face detection and for inter frames the face tracking method uses motion vectors only. With the segmentation information, the ROI based codec and its associated rate control schemes are …

Error-Resilient Image And Video Coding Over Lossy Networks, Yilong Liu

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The rapid growth of the Internet and increasing bandwidth in the past decade has heightened the interest in robust transmission of image and video signals over error-prone links. Recent literatures highlight the multiple description (MD) coding as a promising approach to solve this problem. MD coding is a source coding technique that provides a graceful quality degradation in the presence of packet losses during transmission. Topics of interest to construct MD coders with high coding efficiency and robustness are studied in this thesis. First, to minimize the overall distortion of reconstructed image, an edge-adaptive estimation algorithm is employed, which can …

Eigenspace Model Based Error Concealment And Low Bit Rate Coding Of Face Sequences, Xuejun Hu

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The emerging multimedia applications address the increasing demand for novel video coding systems to provide higher compression ratio while maintaining the high quality of the reconstruction. This research makes an effort under such context to investigate the application of principal component analysis (PCA) in the video coding area, especially for error concealment and very low bit rate face coding. PCA is a well known optimal linear scheme for dimension reduction in data analysis. The central idea of PCA is to reduce the dimensionality of a data set while retaining as much as possible the variation in the data set. Since …

Modeling And Feedback Control Of Mems Devices, Bruno Borovic

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

As MEMS actuators reach maturity and emerge from the research lab into commercial applications, their increased reliability, speed, and performance accuracy is needed. MEMS are typically driven directly in an open-loop fashion by applying simple actuating signals. The requirements for better dynamical behavior, however, have resulted in the gradual introduction of improved actuation approaches, such as pre-shaped open-loop driving and closed-loop control. Unlike macro mechanical systems where the implementation of the feedback is relatively simple, it is quite problematic in the MEMS case. The presence of fast system dynamics, and physical area efficiency requirements have introduced additional challenges for feedback …

Optimization Of H.264 High Profile Decoder For Pentium 4 Processor, Tarun Bhatia

Electrical Engineering Theses - Archive

H.264 is an emerging video coding standard, which aims at compressing high-quality video content at low-bit rates. While the basic idea behind the encoding and decoding process still remains the same as in the previous standards, many new and innovative tools have been added to provide higher compression capabilities with high perceptual quality. These capabilities have also contributed to the increase in complexity of implementation of H.264 significantly compared to the previous generation of video coding standards. In this thesis, the performance analysis of the H.264 decoder for decoding of high profile high definition data is done for the Pentium …

Distribution Pattern Variability Of Granular Vrt Applicators, John P. Fulton, Scott A. Shearer, Stephen F. Higgins, Dennis Wayne Hancock, Timothy S. Stombaugh

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Granular applicators equipped with variable-rate technology (VRT) have gained popularity in recent years as a result of increased interest in variable-rate application. The purpose of this investigation was to characterize distribution patterns at varying rates for different granular applicators. Uniform-rate (UR) tests were conducted to assess the accuracy of variable-rate application from four granular applicators: two spinner-disc spreaders (A and B), and two pneumatic applicators (C and D). Pattern results indicated a consistent triangular pattern for spinner spreader B and consistent patterns for the pneumatic applicators (C and D). However, applicator D produced pattern variations at the center and right …

Truncated Profile Hidden Markov Models, Jennifer A. Smith

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

The profile hidden Markov model (HMM) is a powerful method for remote homolog database search. However, evaluating the score of each database sequence against a profile HMM is computationally demanding. The computation time required for score evaluation is proportional to the number of states in the profile HMM. This paper examines whether the number of states can be truncated without reducing the ability of the HMM to find proteins containing members of a protein domain family. A genetic algorithm (GA) is presented which finds a good truncation of the HMM states. The results of using truncation on searches of the …

Compact Autonomous Completely Explosive Pulsed Power System Based On Transverse Shock Wave Demagnetization Of Nd₂Fe₁₄B And Magnetic Flux Compression, Sergey I. Shkuratov, Evgueni F. Talantsev, Jason Baird, Allen H. Stults, Larry L. Altgilbers

Mining Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The design and performance of a compact autonomous completely explosive pulsed power system based on two physical effects, the transverse shock wave demagnetization of Nd2Fe14B high-energy hard ferromagnets and magnetic flux compression, are presented. A transverse shock wave ferromagnetic generator (FMG) served as a seed source, and a compact helical magnetic flux compression generator (FCG) was used as a pulsed power amplifier. Results of a theoretical and experimental study demonstrated reliable operation of the proposed FMG-FCG system. The methodology for analytical calculation of seed current amplitude is developed.

Development, Deployment, And Evaluation Of A Remote Monitoring System And A Virtual Weigh Station, Joseph D. Crabtree, David Q. Hunsucker, Jennifer R. Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

In order to extend commercial vehicle enforcement coverage to routes that are not monitored by fixed weigh stations, Kentucky has developed and implemented a Remote Monitoring System (RMS) and a Virtual Weigh Station (VWS). The RMS captures images of passing trucks (from the side) and transmits those images to a nearby weigh station. Station personnel can view the images, read the USDOT number, and check the number against Kentucky’s Clearinghouse of motor carrier data. When a problem is detected with the carrier’s registration, taxes, or safety record, an officer can be dispatched to intercept the truck, perform the necessary checks, …

Lexington Incident Detection System Evaluation Report, Adam J. Kirk, Joseph D. Crabtree

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

This report describes the evaluation of an experimental incident detection system implemented within the Lexington / Fayette County area by the Lexington Fayette Urban County Government Department of Traffic Engineering. The incident detection system includes 5 different types of traffic monitors on 10 different locations throughout the county including interstate and limited access facilities and signalized urban arterials. The evaluation of the system was performed over a period of three months between June and August 2005. This report summarizes the implementation strategy and provides recommendations for future implementation and expansion of the system.

Social Utility Functions-Part Ii: Applications, Wynn C. Stirling, Richard L. Frost

Faculty Publications

Social utilities account for agent preferences and, thus, can characterize complex interrelationships, such as cooperation, compromise, negotiation, and altruism, that can exist between agents. Satisficing game theory, which is based on social utilities, offers a framework within which to design sophisticated multiagent systems. Key features of this approach are: a) an N-agent system may be represented by a 2N-dimensional Bayesian network, called a praxeic network; b) the theory accommodates a notion of situational altruism (a willingness to defer to others in a controlled way if so doing would actually benefit others under the condition that others wish to take advantage …

An Analysis Of Fatal Traffic Crashes In Kentucky And Recommended Countermeasures, Kenneth R. Agent, Jerry G. Pigman

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the University of Kentucky. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.

Wright State University College Of Engineering And Computer Science Bits And Pcs Newsletter, Volume 22, Number 3, November 2005, College Of Engineering And Computer Science, Wright State University

BITs and PCs Newsletter

A ten page newsletter created by the Wright State University College of Engineering and Computer Science that addresses the current affairs of the college.